In the last decade, a rapid increase in network traffic has been observed. The main driving force behind this is the explosive growth of the Internet. Thus, there was and still is a tremendous demand for faster network solutions. Optical networks are preferred because optical fibers offer a huge bandwidth accompanied with outstanding low loss. However, along with the increase in traffic, there has been the continuous demand for more processing power and the necessity of linking both together.
The most commonly used semiconductor material for microelectronics is silicon. The whole chip industry is based on this. Silicon is relatively easy and cheap to process and the fabrication methods are very well established.
Therefore, silicon optoelectronics is a very promising link between optics and electronics. Recent work has shown that infrared light (λ>1.2 μm) can be waveguided, detected, modulated and switched in silicon, and thus at the fiber-optic communications wavelengths 1.3 μm and 1.55 μm. Silicon optoelectronics has the major advantage of performing on well-explored technological platforms. It can also be used in helping to solve interconnection problems, and has the ability to improve current microelectronics. The advantages of silicon optoelectronics will allow for the integration of electronics and optics.